Racist Cake Causes Stir in Sweden

Sweden’s culture minister, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, is in hot water after a weekend art exhibit in which she cut up a cake baked into the shape of what was considered to be a stereotypical African woman.

A group representing Swedes of African descent has called for Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth to resign over that it called a racist caricature. But Liljeroth defended her participation, saying the cake was designed to “challenge the traditional image of racism.”

“While the symbolism in the piece is despicable, it is unfortunate and highly regrettable that the presentation has been interpreted as an expression of racism by some,” Liljeroth said in a statement issued by her office. “The artistic intent was the exact opposite.”

The artist who designed the cake, Makode Linde, is of African descent himself and said the piece was aimed at condemning the practice of female genital mutilation. Pictures from the Sunday exhibition showed Liljeroth slicing into the cake from the “genitals” and feeding it to Linde, who told CNN he made himself the head of the figure and screamed in pain when it was cut.

I’m sick of this shit as well. You can’t do ANYthing anymore without someone or some Group screaming Racisim. It’s like they’re out there sitting like Spiders just WAITING for the chance to Pounce on something. It is SO ridiculous and too far gone. GOD I’m sick of it….

What the incident did not prove, however, is that Sweden is an endemically racist country where it is OK to jeer at black people. After all, Liljeroth has faced a barrage of criticism at home and Swedes have been embarrassed and shocked by the images that came out of the event. The sight of the caricatured cake surrounded by laughing white people has made jaws drop in Sweden just as much as abroad. Nobody has come out in defence of minstrel shows or celebrated digging into symbolic black people. The artist himself, Makode Linde, has contested claims that Liljeroth and the other attendees are racists. His cake was part of a series of works that he has branded ‘Afromantics’ – art pieces that explore questions of identity, race and post-colonialism. In previous works, Linde has projected caricatured imagery on to famous figures like the Statue of Liberty, Jesus, Swedish royals and Betty Boop. He wants to provoke people into questioning and confronting prejudices.